Red Fort (Lal Qila), New Delhi, India
Many of the most beautiful buildings of the last 600 years have been erected in Asia, which is also known for its boldly modern cities. Kathleen James-Chakraborty, a professor of art history and architectural historian at University College Dublin, looks across the continent from Iran to Japan at both historic and contemporary buildings from different architectural traditions. She also highlights the important contributions that women have made as patrons and designers of innovative architecture.
April 10 Central Asia and Iran: Timurids and Safavids
From the 15th through the 17th centuries, the Timurid and Safavid dynasties sponsored the creation of innovative art and architecture in Central Asia and Iran that celebrated their rule and their Islamic faith. Brilliantly colored tile overlaid baked brick architecture, while the creation of large urban spaces for pageantry and trade as well as broad boulevards and fragrant gardens for leisure inspired subsequent developments across western and southern Asia. Focusing on the cities of Samarkand, Herat, and Isfahan, James-Chakraborty explores the creation of palaces and mosques erected by Timur, his daughter-in-law Gawharshad, and his grandson Ulugh Beg, as well as Shah Abbas I and his grandson Shah Abbas II.
April 17 India: Mughals to Independence
Whether humble or grandiose, buildings have long been central to competing visions of government in South Asia. The palaces and tombs of the Mughals, new cities erected in the 18th and 20th centuries, and architecture of British colonialism and the Indian campaign for independence celebrate dynastic rule as well as democratic alternatives. James-Chakraborty focuses on the Red Fort in Delhi and the Taj Mahal, both built by Shah Jahan, and contrasts them with the British erection of New Delhi, parliamentary buildings in Chandigarh and Dhaka, Mahatma Gandhi’s ashram in Ahmedabad, and the museum Charles Correa built next to it.
April 24 China
While Beijing and Suzhou are, respectively, the sites of palaces and gardens that embody long-standing Chinese tradition, Shanghai has for over a century been a showcase for Chinese Modernism. The Forbidden City, the largest palace complex ever erected, and the Garden of the Humble Administrator, one of the most celebrated Chinese gardens, were both begun in the Ming dynasty (1368–1644). Although subsequently extensively remodeled, they continue to embody an approach to the organization of domestic space very different from those that shaped Shanghai after control of it was ceded in the middle of the 19th century to foreign governments, which spurred its transformation into one of the most modern cities in Asia.
May 1 Japan
The appeal of Japanese art and architecture in Europe has assisted Japanese architects in developing an indigenous Modernism in which there are references to the past as well as models for the future. No Japanese building has been more admired by architects of the past century than the Katsura Palace in Kyoto. Kenzo Tange’s buildings for the Tokyo Olympics, Tadeo Ando’s Church of the Light, Shigeru Ban’s Paper Log House, and Toyo Ito’s Sendai Mediatheque are among the celebrated structures in which architects born in the 20th century have drawn upon their rich heritage. Finally, SANAA’s River Building at Grace Farm in New Canaan, Connecticut, demonstrates the continued influence of Japanese modernism on architecture in the United States, more than a century after Frank Lloyd Wright’s pioneering Ward Willetts House outside Chicago.
4 sessions
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